PORT ANGELES — A pair of Lefties didn’t let a broken wrist or small college backgrounds keep them from not only competing with players from power conferences, but thriving against them.
Starting pitcher Nick Bonniksen and catcher Brody Kato were named this week to the West Coast League’s North Division All-Star team. It’s quite an honor, as only 42 players from the 11 teams in the league make the two All-Star teams.
The Yakima Valley Pippins will host the All-Star game at Yakima County Stadium at 7:05 p.m. Tuesday.
Both players have been putting up solid numbers. Bonniksen is 4-0 with an ERA of 2.89, recording 21 strikeouts in 28 innings against just nine walks.
He’s the projected starter when the Lefties return to face Corvallis in the opening game of a three-game series at Civic Field on Friday.
Kato, meanwhile, is batting .287 with two home runs and 16 RBIs with 10 walks and seven doubles for an impressive (particularly for a traditionally defensive position like catcher) OBP/SLG/OPS slash line of .376/.416/.792.
Bonniksen said he actually learned about making the All-Star team from his parents, who had seen an announcement about it on the internet.
“They’re pretty proud. I’m really proud. It’s cool for the team,” Bonniksen said.
Bonniksen credits his approach of simply competing. “Competing, that’s all I try to do. Competing in the zone, throwing strikes, throwing batters’ timing off.”
Bonniksen said he also tries to play with confidence and he gets a lot of run support from his fellow Lefties, giving him his unvarnished record. He thinks that confidence helps rub off on other players.
A pretty big percentage of the players who make the All-Star team come from power conferences such as the Pac-12, Big 10 and SEC. The team is chock full of players from Washington State (a league-high five players), Oregon State and UCLA.
Lefties’ Coach Zach Miller said that what both Bonniksen and Kato have in common is they both work hard.
“[For Bonniksen] to go out and do what he’s done shows work ethic. [Kato] has played well all summer behind the plate defensively. He’s a great player and has a great work ethic,” Miller said.
Bonniksen’s background? He’s played for an NAIA school (Menlo College in California), a junior college (Mesa Community College) and will be going to Dixie State, which believe it or not, is not in the South, it’s actually an NCAA Div. II school in St. George, Utah.
Bonniksen said at every level he’s pitched, he’s gone up against MLB draft picks and got them out.
“It makes me think that in the game of baseball, it doesn’t matter where you’re at. There’s great players everywhere,” Bonniksen said. “I don’t look at the conference or division. On any day, anyone can play.”
Kato managed to make the All-Star team despite breaking his wrist three weeks ago when he got plunked with a pitch. He kept playing with the sore wrist, assuming it was a bone bruise, but it wasn’t getting better and recently got x-rays that confirmed a fracture.
Kato will be taking a week off before the All-Star game to give his wrist a chance to heal, so unfortunately, you won’t see him playing in Port Angeles during the weekend’s three-game series against defending champion and this season’s top team, the Corvallis Knights.
Kato said he was surprised he made the All-Star team and didn’t even realize that he was on the All-Star ballot (voted on by WCL coaches).
Kato also comes from a small school — Western Arizona Community College in Yuma, Ariz., quite a few notches away from top-level programs like UCLA and Oregon State.
“Ultimately, my goal is to play pro ball. [Making the All-Star team] just instills the confidence that you can play with them and not just play with them but be an All-Star,” Kato said. “It gives me the confidence that I can play this game a long time.”
Kato said he is looking at offers from schools at the NAIA, Division I and Division II levels.
Kato has really enjoyed his summer here other than the broken wrist. He enjoys playing in the cool summer nights (110 degrees in Yuma at the moment) of Port Angeles and loves the fly-fishing opportunities in the area. Most of all, “being at home and being around a bunch of nice people. The fan base here is awesome.”
One player who wasn’t able to make the All-Star team is Ian Nowak, who has been absolutely on fire for the Lefties in the past three weeks. Nowak, who didn’t join the team until mid-June, has five home runs in only 17 games (and 54 at-bats).
“He’s just got fewer at-bats than the other guys,” Miller said.
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Sports Editor Pierre LaBossiere can be contacted at 360-417-3525 or plabossiere@peninsuladailynews.com.
